Under new state law, Washington schools weigh cellphone policy

WASHINGTON — Washington school board members are considering changes to the district’s cellphone policies in light of a new state law that makes them enforceable.

The legislation, House File 782, was signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds late last month. It requires schools to ban electronic devices during instructional time, citing teachers who say they’re a consistent distraction in the classroom. The new law also gives districts unambiguous authority to confiscate cellphones from students who violate rules governing their use, according to Washington High School Dean of Students Ben Obermann.

“Right now, they’re allowed to use it during passing time (and) lunch, but it becomes very hard to police our current policy,” he said. “The law will help us be able to collect phones, and not have to listen to, ‘I bought this phone, it’s my kid’s phone, you’re not taking this phone,’ … If we do try to enforce our current policy, that’s what we run into. It’s a power struggle.”

School districts across the state are considering two broad options.

The first is to meet the law’s minimum requirements, allowing phones at lunch and between classes, but not during instructional time. Like Washington, many districts already have similar rules on the books, although some are more nuanced; Keota allows phones at lunch but not passing periods, while Highland’s policy says the devices are banned in “instructional areas,” according to information Washington Superintendent Willie Stone shared with his respective school board.

The other option, called a “bell to bell” policy, would ban the uses of cellphones outright in district buildings from the moment first period starts to the end of the school day, including at lunch and in hallways when class isn’t in session. A handful of districts have already announced such guidelines for next year, including Mid-Prairie and Sigourney, according to Stone’s findings.

Some already launched similar rules in the 2024-25 school year, including Ottumwa’s public schools. Hillcrest Academy, a small private school north of Kalona, did the same in August of 2024, requiring students to keep their communication devices in sealed cases during the school day.

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Stone said the latter would likely come with transition difficulties, but would be considerably easier to enforce, with little need to distinguish between any borderline cases of restricted cellphone use. The superintendent added that he’d heard positive things from districts which have already implemented similar rules.

“The schools that have switched to it say the first one to two months are really, really rough,” he said of bell to bell policies. “But after that, the positives outweigh the first one or two months. In talking with Ottumwa, kids are actually talking with each other at lunch, they’re having conversations. Or in a class, when they get done with something, they’re having conversations with a person they would have never had a conversation with.”

A handful of additional details are also up for debate. District officials raised a handful of questions about rules for smartwatches at the meeting earlier this month, and deliberated briefly about the possibility of different buildings following different rules. Also unclear is exactly how closely restrictions on students’ phones will match those for teachers and other adults in the schools.

The board appeared split on whether to survey community members about the change, although several appeared open to the possibility ahead of a final vote, planned before the next school year begins.

Stone said the district would ensure some medical exemptions, citing IEP plans that involve the devices, and apps that some people with diabetes use to check their blood sugar.

The superintendent also discouraged board members from any approach involving lockable pouches for the devices that block cellphone signals, sometimes called by the brand name “Yondr.”

“If we go bell-to-bell, we’re not buying pouches,” he said. “After watching some videos, it takes two seconds to get into it and get it put back together.”

While school board members haven’t reached a formal decision yet, many suggested they favored bell-to-bell bans on the electronic devices. Some cited the psychological and social concerns about social media and omnipresent cameras, while others said they preferred the simplicity of an unambiguous policy.

“Quite frankly, I think phones are a detriment to some of the kids these days anyway, I think they don’t know how to act without it,” said school board member Brendan DeLong. “I would be in favor of going bell-to-bell, I think they’re going to get a lot more out of school and I think that they need that. They’re not going to like it, but I think that the pros outweigh the cons.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com